Hi Guys,

I own a Seamaster Chrono (212.30.42.50.01.001) and was wondering if my Super-Luminova is performing as expected.
I bought a UV flash light and charged the watch for 6 minutes. The illumination is amazing at start, but fades really quick and the watch in unreadable in the dark after about an hour. What is your experience with this model? Am I charging it correctly?

Thanks,
Erez

 

My 2254.50 "Sword Hands" lasts about 2-4 hours before it becomes unreadable

 

Thanks for the reply. Can you let me know how are you charging it?

 

I have a desktop lighted magnifier (so basically a CFL bulb). I put it under the bulb for a few seconds and then it's good to go

 

Wow only a few seconds under a CFL bulb! I wonder if the fact that you have much larger lume areas as dsio pointed out makes a difference here but mine never lasted more than a couple of hours regardless if it was charged by the sun, strong LED light or UV flash light.

I understand that the glow drops with time, but as per Omega's official response: "As an average, the Super-LumiNova will glow for approximately 8-10 hours at night." I was wondering if mine was defected or if it is common with these models.

Anyone out there with a Seamaster Chrono model 212.30.42.50.01.001 who can share his experience?

Cheers

Erez

 

For comparison....the lume on my Citizen's glows throughout the night and is readable >8hrs+.....

 

My 15mth old Speedy Pro doesn't have a lot of lume applied but after about 30s of charging with a UV flashlight or 'energy-saver' lightbulb and I can still read it in near darknes 8hrs later.

Same deal with my Seiko SKX009, although not only is that a different compound, there is a lot more of it applied.

 

I also think the the amount of luminova applied is the important part here, not how you charge it.
To my experience with a lot of watches from different companies is that what is sometimes communicated through the OEMs or people in forums is highly exagerated. Most people show pictures the second after they charged the lume and put out the light. It is always a bit disappointing in real life.

 

It seems to me the amount of luminova shouldn't matter. Logically, a small blob should glow as long as a large one, or am I missing something here?

The lume on my SubC lasts through the night and then some, though it is very faint at the end, and if your eyes are not adjusted to the dark, you'd think it isn't glowing any longer.

 

No, you are right. It does affect how bright the lume is though. And it's a combination of both parts that makes it possible to read the time in the middle of the night.

Also for pictures posted here to show off the lume the room is often darkened completely. But in most bedrooms there still is some light from outside shining in (moon etc.).

 

The lume on my SMP Diver (bought 2014) glows all through the night, perfectly legibly, albeit with my eyes adjusted to low light. I'd say it's about the same as my SubC ... I'm not sure what the problem would be with the watches mentioned in the thread that lose their glow after an hour or two.

 

Thanks for the replies so far. I stumbled into an interesting read: http://kronometric.org/article/lume/
It does suggest that what I am experiencing is normal, but still does not coincides with what some of you are getting from your time pieces.
I will take my watch to Omega and try to compare it to a similar model. It could be that the fact I have small lume surface impacts this specific SeaMaster. Will update with my findings. In the meantime, I'd appreciate feedback from owners of a similar model. Cheers

 

I think it depends on expectations. What some consider all night I consider about an hour.

 

I also have owned this model (black version) for some time. This is not what I have experienced. I have charged the watch with a UV lamp and even with that I have not experienced what you have.

I guess that it really is a difficult topic, highly subjective.

 

plus, of course lume does get "tired" with time ... so don't expect a 5+ year old watch to light just like a newly bought one

 

So, does a uv light work better than a regular light? What sort of UV device?

 

An update on my visit to the Omega store - I used a UV flash light on a similar model (though it was the 44mm and not 42mm like mine) for 30 seconds and we put both watched in a dark room. After 10 minutes, both time pieces had no illumination whatsoever :/
On one hand, it's good news to see that my watch is not defected, but on the other hand it's a pretty poor performance! I am considering having another, more thorough, test next week where I will blast both models for 5 minutes and camp at the Omega store for a couple of hours to see the results

@ctpete -

Omega official response was:

The Super-LumiNova material takes its luminescence from daylight or any artificial source of light. The watch should therefore be exposed to bright light in order to ensure the luminescence of the hands in the dark, i.e. during the night. Markings covered by Super-LumiNova material will remain clearly visible for the whole night provided that sufficient activation – minimum 5-10 minutes – by sunlight or by fluorescent light has occurred. It is correct that the luminescence decreases with hours but it is restored as soon as the watch is exposed to bright light.
As an average, the Super-LumiNova will glow for approximately 8-10 hours at night.

From my experience, the sun is best. In theory, the material is charged by UV light (that you get with sun light).

 

I'm not nearly happy with the Seamaster Pro lume, vs the Planet Ocean, although it beats the lume on any of the four Aqua Terra I've owned.

I have that same Citizen diver, and it does have impressive lume - it's electrified looking. My Seiko SKX173 glows just as bright and all night long, as does my PO2500 with green lume. My PO2500 LM LE and PO 8500 with their blue lume are not as bright, but they still last all night, as do my newer Rolex 216570 and 216710 with the blue lume - they are readable all night long, just not as bright hen they start out.

However, NONE of my four Seamaster Pros last all night, and they are not as bright to start out with when they are hit with a bight or UV light first - with one SMP from 1998, one from 2002, one from 2014 and one from 2015 (that's a 212.30.42.50.03.001).

My older Rolex watches with green lume glow brighter and longer than all my Seamaster Pros, but they still don't stay as bright as long as my Planet Oceans or the newer Chromalite powered Rolexes.

 

My experience is that as the dial's lume brightness dims over time during the night, that your eyes become more adjusted to the darkness and so the dial is still readable when you wake up at 4AM.